By It seems children nowadays aren’t very bothered about writing very much, or drawing and coloring for that matter. Either that or the the marketing guys at Lenovo aiming for the classroom with the Classmate+ PC are very wrong.
The Classmate+ PC is basically a simplified netbook that’s destined to be sold in bulk on various markets in developing countries. This is why Lenovo didn’t really pack this with the latest technology or anything difficult to make.
Lenovo Classmate+ PC
As a result of this, specifications of the Classmate+ PC are far from impressive:
- 10.1 inch screen
- Intel Atom N455 processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 120 or 250 GB HDD
- WiFi connectivity
- 1.3 megapixel camera
- 3 or 6 cell battery
What I find interesting is not the listed performance but how Lenovo’s Classmate+ PC runs Windows 7. To be frank, the performance of this machine is at the very limit of running Windows 7 properly.
Sure, there’s a couple of SSD drives that are optional but at just 8 and 16 GB I doubt anybody is actually going for them.
Lenovo Classmate+ PC
The most important part in selling the Classmate+ PC is how it’s going to use a distribution chain that’s limited to working with educational institutes or agencies. This must be how Lenovo managed to already get orders for 158.000 of the Classmate+ PC, all of which are headed for Buenos Aires.
Early sales figures are impressive to say the least, especially since you consider that under the Lenovo branding the Classmate+ PC is nothing other then Intel’s Classmate with a bit of a facelift.
Even so, I have to issues with this classroom aimed toy: Firstly, no actual price has been mentioned and secondly, unlike the PeeWee Pivot 2.0 we’re not told anything about educational software bundles that may or may not be delivered along side.